I think I need a break. I don’t mean a holiday. I mean a break. Doing something radically different. Not as long as a sabbatical, but not as short as a fortnight in the sun. A boot camp for a physical and mental skill in a totally unfamiliar environment.
Like a rock tour after a fortnight of woodshedding, something like that. Ever get that feeling?
I was never any good at thinking outside the box, but that didn’t bother me because there is so much stuff inside the box that I find interesting and that plenty of other people can’t be bothered with. That said, I think it’s time I changed the shape of the box.
My daughter recently bought some balloons and got them filled with helium from a local shop. Before the day was done, they’d already started dropping. By the next morning, they were on the floor. In years gone by, helium filled balloons would stay up for a few days. Now I’m not saying that the helium the shop supplied was laced with a cheaper gas, like air for example, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
I don’t mind being charged more for a product or a service, so long as that product or service is not adulterated in any way.
Take the transport network in London. All things considered, it’s just so much better than it was when I was growing up that it’s almost crazy to make any kind of comparison. From being able to track the times of trains and buses in real time to knowing that most of the time, you will not have to wait forever for a bus (though it might sometimes feel like that); from greatly improved wheelchair access to stations to having any access at all for wheelchairs and large buggies on buses, things are just considerably better. Whilst I moan at the increases, this is more an issue of wages not keeping up with rising costs than anything. The service has not been adulterated while the prices continue to rise.
In another case, take specialist hardware. The cost of production goes down over the lifecycle of a product and sometimes the shell will be replaced with something of cheaper quality. I don’t mind this as much because in general, the prices also come down, reliability goes up and the core functionality of the product has not been compromised.
Crisps however, are a case in point. No, it’s not just because I’m bigger. You get fewer crisps in number along with a corresponding reduction in weight, but the prices continue to go up. I’m not a crisp aficionado, but it is insulting.
It’s a far more serious problem when more important food is tainted.
We Muslims in particular should be careful about this. The Qur’an is explicit in its guidance on this matter:
“Give full measure, and be not of those who give less (than the due).”
26:181
I would always prefer to pay more than to be cheated on what I’m buying. Even if that means I have to go without.
In times of difficulty, when the environment is brutal, when so many are losing their heads, two paths appear.
The easy path is inward looking, unimaginative and prudent. It’s defensive, apologetic and and appeals to those obsessed with damage limitation. If you take this path, you will probably lose, but at least you reduce the chances of getting hammered.
The hard path is breathtakingly audacious and requires indefatigable courage. Like Liverpool’s second half against Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final; like Sean Murray mortgaging his house to make Joe Danger; like Zlatan Ibrahimovic against England the other night, I choose the hard path, because although I might fall flat on my arse more often than not, one day I will pull off the greatest overhead kick ever scored.